Portable basket colony for growing and transport and method of use

ABSTRACT

A colony basket and method of using the same for handling poultry from DOC through the growing process and on to a production facility comprising a harvesting system, a loading system, a transport system, an unloading and storing system, hanging system and cleaning system. The system and method performs the steps of harvesting and colonizing live poultry into a singly stackable and transportable colony basket, stacking and loading the trays on a transport, unloading and temporarily storing the poultry for subsequent processing.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

1. Field

The field relates generally to poultry processing and more particularlyto handling, growing and transporting live poultry.

2. Background Art

Loading and unloading birds and transportation of live birds from thehatchery stage through the kill stage at a production facility is achallenging task. The birds have to be gathered, contained andtransferred to a transport means and subsequently unloaded with minimaldamage or harm to the animal, which is challenging because birdsinstinctively resist such movement. For example, transport of livepoultry from the hatchery to growing houses and from growing houses toprocessing facilities is required. One method of transport of livepoultry is containing the birds in cages and stacking the cages on atruck with a flatbed trailer for transport. Loading and unloadingtrailers with live animals, particularly from a location where theanimals are grown or raised to a processing facility, can in the case ofchickens, increase the stress level of the animal. With heightenedstress, animals are more likely to have increased body temperature,experience bruising, dislocated wing/leg joints and potential tissuedamage along with an increased pH level, which may affect the quality ofthe muscle. Once the birds are captured in cages, the cages must beloaded on the trailer.

Existing systems involve crews of catchers to unload the birds from thegrowing colonies and load them for transport means. Loading of the cageson the trailer consumes the full time of one operator to move cages fromthe house or growing area to the trailer and it requires skill to stackcages on the trailer so that they can be properly secured for transport.The cages often become damaged in this operation over time and need tobe repaired and eventually replaced. Damage to the cages often involvesthe doors through which the birds are inserted. Poorly operating doorsleads to increased time to load cages and potential bird damage.

There are significant labor issues because it is very labor intensiveand requires some level of skill and training. There are health issuesfor both the birds and the handlers. The labor intensive handling of thebirds promotes infections of the handler and risks harm to the birds.This results in numerous health and safety concerns. The cages are pronefor damage which can cause bird damage and extensive time and labor isutilized to fill the cages with birds and load and secure them fortransport. The cages or other transport containers also have to becleaned prior reuse, which can also be a labor intensive and costlyeffort.

Loading of poultry is a cumbersome and time consuming task. In thecatching process, the poultry are placed into cages. Some cage designsconsist of “drawers” and can vary from 10 to 15 drawers averaging a20-25 bird capacity per drawer. Birds can be placed into the cageseither manually or by semi-automatic means. A forklift then can load aflatbed truck with 18-22 cages that are stacked in pairs. Once the cagesare in place, each stack has to be secured by chains to the frame of thetrailer.

Semi-automated methods of harvesting the birds in the houses haveencountered mechanical and functional problems. In one sense thissemi-automated method eliminates the need for operators to physicallypick up the birds. However, operators are still needed to operate theequipment and to move the birds forward and away from the sides of thehouse. Therefore, some handling is still necessary.

Plastic poultry trays or drawers are sometimes used to transport andhouse birds temporarily, however, these systems are temporal and onlyused during certain stages and are not integral with growing systems ortransport systems. Use of such trays or drawers still requiresignificant handling of birds, though they may be somewhat more durablethan metal cages.

As noted above, problems occur with, loading, unloading, harvesting,placing birds into cages (plastic drawers or trays), loading the cageson a transport, and transporting to the processing facilities. Also,current processes are labor intensive and costly. The problems occur asthe DOC (Day Old Chicks) are transitioned from the hatcheries to thegrowing centers and then to the production facilities. A new system andmethod for harvesting, loading, growing, transporting, and unloading isneeded that addresses the above problems by reducing physical handlingof the birds from the hatchery stage through the kill and productionstage.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The technology involves a system and method for handling poultrycomprising a colony basket apparatus utilized throughout the process oftransitioning the DOC from the hatchery, to the growing facility,through the growing process, and on to the production facility. Thecolony basket apparatus is utilized for harvesting, loading andunloading, growing, transport, storing and holding through the shacklingprocess prior to the kill process. The method utilizes the colony basketapparatus to perform the steps of retrieving and loading a grouping ofthe DOC into the colony basket at the hatchery, transporting the samegrouping of birds in the same colony basket to the growing facility,loading the colony basket containing the original grouping of birds intothe colony system of the growing facility, growing the DOC to Broilers(chickens bread and raised specifically for meat production) in theoriginal colony basket in which they were installed, removing andharvesting live poultry from the colony system while maintaining thesame grouping of birds in the same colony basket in which they wereoriginally placed, stacking and loading the colony basket of Broilers ona transport, transporting to a poultry production facility, unloadingthe colony basket and temporarily storing the poultry in the same colonybasket for subsequent killing. The invention more particularly relatesto a new portable colony basket for holding and making possible allnecessary functions for the poultry animals from the DOC stage, throughgrowing, through transport and up to production while maintaining agrouping of birds or subset thereof in the same colony basket throughoutthe process all of the way through the shackling process.

The concept of harvesting poultry utilizing one type of colony basketuniformly throughout the entire process from capturing the DOC at thehatchery to growing houses equipped with colony systems and on toproduction will make the process more efficient and will result in lessworker and animal stress by resolving many of the problems related tothe current methods of manually catching birds and placing in cages orother containers or using semi-automated systems to harvest andtransition poultry. With the present invention, stackable tray colonybaskets can be utilized that can be placed into and retrieved fromcolony systems in growing houses using automated systems and can betransferred and retrieved from transports when transitioning betweenlocations within the overall process and the colony baskets can befurther integrated with feeding and watering systems. The trays can bemade from molded plastic or other material including metal aluminummetal and can have an open grid flexible flooring elevated above a lowermanure trap flooring to keep the birds out of their manure and the sidescan be vented. The bottoms can have an open grid pattern bottom to allowthe birds to grasp with their paws to stabilize and reduce wingflapping, but the floor can also be flexible to reduce injury to thebird. The grid pattern also allows debris and litter to fall out toreduce cleaning and increased airflow to ventilate the birds. The topand bottom perimeter edges of the cages can be complimentary in shapefor ease of stacking and stability reducing lateral movement of thestacked trays with respect to each other. The sides of the trays canalso have vented openings. Once an upper tray is stacked on top of alower tray, birds placed in the lower tray are contained. The upper mosttray in a stack of trays can be capped by an additional empty tray orother cover or ceiling in the colony system or in the transport or otherautomated transitioning means.

An empty stack of colony baskets can be transported to a hatchery andloaded with DOC. The stack of colony baskets containing DOC can beloaded on a transport rack, which receives the colony baskets andtransported to a growing house from the hatchery. The colony baskets canbe unloaded from the transport rack to be transferred into a poultryhouse colony system manually or the transfer can by automated by apowered mover or conveyor and/or loading system. This method providesthat no container stacks have to be manually or mechanically un-stackedfor loading poultry because the DOC are already in the colony baskets.Previous systems required that trays be removed from a stack and thenthe poultry would be loaded into the trays and the trays are re-stacked,a powered mover can transport the trays to the outside to be loaded ontothe trailer. The process of loading and unloading birds in the growinghouse has been eliminated.

The construction of the trailer can be a flatbed trailer with verticalframework to make up the structural integrity as well as to hold thestacks of individual colony baskets. There can be a plurality ofvertical and horizontal rails to insure the structure and flexibility ofthe size and number of colony baskets the transport is capable ofhandling.

With the design of the present invention, there can be a frame workconstructed on the transport trailer holding a lightweight material thatcan be pulled alongside the trailer to cover the sides. This shroud cancreate an envelope in which the environment can be better controlled andprovide a more suitable environment for the animals.

Once the trailer arrives at the plant, the colony baskets can beunloaded and automatically moved into a warehouse or holding facility.This process can be performed as trucks arrive in order to build anentire storage of birds for a production shift. The trucks can beautomatically unloaded in a very short period of time, thus eliminatingthe need for a forklift. The system can work in a “last-in first-out”method. The process can be improved through the efficiency of bringingthe birds in the same colony basket that originated at the hatchery andthe same colony basket continuing through the growing process and on tothe production plant kill area and not consuming time loading andunloading birds into and out of cages or other containers.

The automated unloading can be done automatically to pull the trays offthe trailer (or flatbed of transport) from the side of the truck in thestacked formation into a transport rack or onto either a conveyor orpull chain system. The transport rack or the conveyor can take the traysto the staging area where they can be un-stacked manually or by usingdestacker equipment.

With the proposed method, the colony baskets provide a perfecttransport, growing container and housing means all in one unit to movethe birds through the entire process. This system can eliminate theunnecessary handling of the birds and possibly make the process moreefficient.

There are a number of advantages to the design of the present inventionfor harvesting poultry. Safety is increased for the handler and thebirds and health risks are reduced. The efficiencies of handling andtransporting birds is improved and the process is less labor intensiveand causes less stress on animals.

These and other advantageous features of the present invention will bein part apparent and in part pointed out herein below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the present invention, reference may bemade to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a colony basket integrated with a watering and feeding system;

FIG. 2 a colony basket stack;

FIG. 3 is colony basket rack;

FIG. 4A is a colony basket rack;

FIG. 4B is a side plan view of a colony basket;

FIG. 4C is a side plan view of a colony basket;

FIG. 4D is a colony basket rack support;

FIG. 4E is a colony basket rack conveyor assembly;

FIG. 5A is a colony basket rack support;

FIG. 5B is a colony basket rack conveyor assembly;

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of the colony basket methodology;

FIGS. 7 is an illustration of the hatchery conveyor, DOC counter and eggshell separator;

FIG. 8 is an illustration of a colony system;

FIG. 9 is an illustration of loading colony baskets from a rack to acolony system;

FIG. 10 is an illustration of the colony system operation;

FIG. 11 is an illustration of a transport loading system;

FIG. 12A-12C is an illustration of loading a transport;

FIG. 13-19 is an illustration of transferring colony basket stacks froma colony system to a trailer;

FIGS. 20-22 is an illustration of retrieving colony basket stacks from atrailer;

FIGS. 23-24 are illustrations of transferring colony baskets to a killline; and

FIG. 25-26 is an illustration of colony baskets traveling through thekill line and the cleaning station.

While the invention is susceptible to various modifications andalternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way ofexample in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. Itshould be understood, however, that the drawings and detaileddescription presented herein are not intended to limit the invention tothe particular embodiment disclosed, but on the contrary, the intentionis to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives fallingwithin the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by theappended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION

According to the embodiment(s) of the present invention, various viewsare illustrated in FIG. 1-25 and like reference numerals are being usedconsistently throughout to refer to like and corresponding parts of theinvention for all of the various views and figures of the drawing. Also,please note that the first digit(s) of the reference number for a givenitem or part of the invention should correspond to the Fig. number inwhich the item or part is first identified.

One embodiment of the technology is a single colony basket designadapted to be used throughout poultry processing from the hatchery,through growing and to production. The colony basket includes componentsdesigned for the growing process and components designed for transport.The colony basket is adapted for an automated loading system including astackable tray design, a transport system, and unloading and storingsystem.

The details of the invention and various embodiments can be betterunderstood by referring to the figures of the drawing.

Referring to FIG. 1, a colony basket integrated with a watering andfeeding system is shown. The colony basket growing assembly 100 is shownwith a colony basket 102 having vented vertically upright side walls 104and 106 extending between a top rim flange and a bottom rim flange. Thevertically upright side walls include vented areas 108. The top rimflange includes a plurality of stand-offs as represented by items 110and 111. The stand-offs can provide spacing between colony baskets whenthey are stacked one on top of the other. The bottom rim flange caninclude complimentary recessed receptacles to receive the stand-offstherein in order to interlock the stacked colony baskets and in order toprevent or resist lateral and longitudinal movement. The top rim flangeand the adjacent side wall can have vertical slots 116 and 118 forreceiving the water channel and water trough assembly 120 and 122. Thecolony basket 102 can also be integrated with a feed channel 124 andfeed trough 126. The feed assembly and the watering assembly can be moregenerally referred to as sustenance assemblies that can be elevatedabove the basket for basket removal and installation and ultimatelylowered into the basket. The parametrical top rim flange defines anupward facing opening through which birds can be inserted into thebasket. The downward facing opening is closed by a floor 112 providingsupport and a trap for debris. The floor 112 can have placed thereonelongated elevator strips 114 over which a flexible mesh flooring (NotShown) can be supported and installed. The flexible mesh flooring, notshown, can have small openings through which debris can fall downwardthrough the mesh flooring and be trapped by the floor 112. Theflexibility of the mesh flooring prevents injury to birds standingthereon. The colony basket growing assembly 100 is shown in itsconfiguration when it is integrated within a colony system whereby thebirds are housed within the colony basket and provided nourishment forthe growing process. For another embodiment, the floor 112 can be a meshfloor and the strips 114 can support the mesh floor. A furthermodification to this embodiment can include an under panel or cover thatremovably attaches immediately underneath the mesh floor 112.

Referring to FIG. 2, a colony basket stack is shown. In FIGS. 2A-2Cvarious views of a colony basket stack 200 is shown. The colony basketsare shown stacked one on top of the other. The colony basket stack 200can be transported in this configuration and as seen in the variousviews, the colony baskets are vertically spaced one with respect to theother by the stand-offs 111 and 110. The bottom facing rim of the basketabove can be configured with a mating receptacle recess for receivingthe stand-off of the basket immediately below.

Referring to FIG. 3, a colony basket rack is shown. A rack assembly 300is shown and configured for a colony system. The rack transfer andconveyor assembly 302 is shown which is utilized to support the colonybasket as well as transfer the colony basket into and out of the colonyracks of the colony system. The colony system configuration is shownwith a feed assembly 304 and a watering assembly 306. The slot 116 shownwhere the water assembly 306 can be lowered therein. The feed assembly304 and the water assembly 306 is shown in a lowered position but can beelevated above the colony basket using a wench system adapted to raiseand lower the assemblies so that the basket can be inserted and removedfrom the colony basket rack without being obstructed by the assemblies.Other drawer designs are not adapted such that watering and feedingassemblies can be raised above or lowered into the container.

Referring to FIGS. 4A through 4E, a colony basket rack is shown, a sideplan view of a colony basket is shown, a side plan view of a colonybasket is shown, a colony basket rack support is shown and a colonybasket rack conveyor assembly is shown. FIGS. 4A-4E show the variouscomponents of the rack assembly 300 within the colony systemconfiguration. The colony baskets are longitudinally installed withinthe rack assembly 300. The longitudinal installation aligns the verticalslots of the colony baskets to be aligned with the water trough system.The components of the transfer system including the support transferrack 400 and the rack transfer conveyor assembly 302 is also shown.

Referring to FIGS. 5A-5B, a colony basket rack support is shown and acolony basket rack conveyor assembly is shown. FIGS. 5A and 5B showfurther detail of the support transfer rack 400 and the rack transferconveyor assembly 302. The rack transfer conveyor assembly 302 includesa conveyor belt 500 and a conveyor roll assembly 502. The rack transferconveyor assembly 302 also includes a hydraulic cylinder extension arm504 that can be utilized to engage the baskets with engagement members506 and extend to transfer a colony basket stack from one rack toanother and/or from one rack to a transport system. The basket cylinderarm and basket retention bar 504 can be actuated to longitudinallyextend and retract during retrieval and insertion of a basket. Thebasket retention bar 504 can include basket engagement members memberthat engages the basket by applying lateral pressure against the side ofthe basket and/or engages a complimentary receptor configured to receivethe engagement member. The retention bar and engagement member can berotated about pivot 508 in order to rotate upward to engage a basket orto rotate outward and downward away from the basket. The supporttransfer rack 400 can support a basket and the support transfer rack canbe integral with a rack allowing the transfer rack 400 to elevate orlower the basket with the rack when it is supporting a basket.

Referring to FIG. 6 a flow diagram of the colony basket methodology isshown. FIG. 6 shows a flow diagram of a circular process utilizing asystem of colony baskets throughout the entirety of the process. A givencolony basket will retain the same colony (grouping) of birds throughoutthe process. Initially a colony basket is filled with DOC at a hatcheryas reflected by step 600. Groupings of colony baskets each containingtheir own individual grouping of birds are then transferred to a growinghouse (colony farm) 602 where the baskets are loaded into a colonysystem as reflected by 604. The birds are retained in the same colonybasket in which they were originally installed throughout the growingprocess and the growing process proceeds as reflected by 606. The colonybaskets are integrated with the watering and feeding systems within thecolony system of the growing house. Once the growing process has beencompleted, the birds are retained in their original colony basket andthe baskets are removed from the colony system and transferred to thetrailer of a transport as reflected by step 608. The transport carriesthe grouping of baskets to a processing plant where the colony basketsare stacked and stored for future processing as reflected by steps 610and 612. Again, each of the grouping of birds are retained in theiroriginal colony basket throughout the process. The baskets are unloadedas reflected by step 614 and transferred to the kill line as reflectedby step 616 or 617 which is the controlled atmosphere stunning system(CAS) path and there can be separate paths that can be chosen. The birdscan be removed from the original baskets in which they were placed andinstalled on shackles for further processing. The baskets can then besent through a cleaning process as reflected by step 618. The cleanedbaskets can then be transported to a hatchery 620 and a new batch of DOCcan be installed into the baskets and the process can repeat itself.

Referring to FIG. 7, an illustration of the hatchery conveyor is shown.FIG. 7 is an illustration of a hatchery system where groupings of DOC700 can be placed on a conveyor system 702 and transferred into colonybaskets by a transfer system 704 and the baskets filled with DOC canthen be stacked and transferred to a growing house containing a colonysystem. The transfer system 704 installs the DOC in a basket andseparates the DOC from the shells that remain after the bird hatches.

Referring to FIG. 8, an illustration of a colony system is shown. FIG. 8is an illustration of a colony system where rows of rack assemblies 800are aligned side-by-side in which colony systems are installed asreflected by Items 800 and 802 respectively. A rack assembly 300 can beutilized for transferring the colony baskets from the rack to the colonysystem. The colony baskets can be longitudinally installed within thecolony system for the growing process. The colony basket stacks 200 canbe installed on wheeled platforms for transporting the colony basketsstacks as reflected in the illustration.

Referring to FIG. 9, an illustration of loading colony baskets from arack to a colony system is shown. FIG. 9 is a further illustration oftransferring a colony basket stack 900 on a wheeled platform 902 to acolony rack 302 for insertion of the colony baskets into the colonysystem as reflected by Items 800 and 802.

Referring to FIG. 10, an illustration of the colony system operation isshown. FIG. 10 is an illustration of the growing process in operationwhereby workers 1002 utilizing platforms 1004 can tend to the growingprocess by maintaining the watering and feeding systems. The water andfeed assemblies are shown in an elevated position above the basket. Whenthe assemblies are elevated, the baskets can be readily inserted andremoved.

Referring to FIG. 11, an illustration a transport loading system isshown. FIG. 11 is an illustration of transferring colony baskets 102from a colony system into a rack assembly 300 for transfer into thetransport 1104 having a flatbed 1106. The colony baskets 102 can betransferred by a transfer conveyor 1102 into a rack assembly 300. Therack assembly 300 can then be utilized to load the transport 1104 byplacing the colony basket stacks on the flatbed of the transport.

Referring to FIG. 12A-12C, an illustration of loading a transport isshown. FIGS. 12A-12C is a further illustration of transferring colonybaskets from the colony system onto a rack assembly for placement on aflatbed of a transport.

Referring to FIG. 13-19, an illustration of transferring colony basketstacks from a colony system to a trailer is shown. FIGS. 13-19 providean illustration of a step-by-step process for transferring colonybaskets from the colony system onto the flatbed of a transport. Asillustrated, the basket supports 400 are rotated to receive the firstcolony basket from level 4. The basket is loaded onto the basket supportand a netting material can be installed or draped over the top of thecolony basket 102 to retain the birds therein. FIG. 14 illustratesloading a second basket from level 4 and again applying a netting orother covering material over the top of the basket. FIG. 15 illustratesloading a third basket from level 3 and again applying the nettingmaterial and draping over the top of the basket. This process isrepeated for each of the levels of the colony system as two baskets areloaded from each level and then stacked with the previously loadedbaskets.

FIG. 16 reflects loading the eighth and final basket from level 1 ontothe rack transfer conveyor assembly for subsequent stacking of thecolony baskets. When a complete stack has been loaded, the basketsupports can be rotated outward such that the rack transfer conveyorassembly can begin transferring stacks onto the transport. FIG. 17illustrates the completed stack and ready for rotating the basketsupports outward to ready the loading of the basket stacks onto thetransport. FIG. 18 illustrates the rack transfer conveyor assemblyconveying the basket stacks onto the flatbed of the transport. FIG. 19illustrates the completion of the stack loading utilizing the hydrauliccylinder extension arm 1902 for placing and loading the stack onto theflatbed of the transport.

Referring to FIGS. 20-22, an illustration of retrieving colony basketstacks from a trailer is shown, which is essentially the reverse of theprocess for loading a trailer. FIG. 20 is an illustration ofsubsequently retrieving the basket stacks from the trailer using thehydraulic cylinder arm to engage and pull the stack onto the rackassembly. The hydraulic cylinder arm pulls the stack onto the rack andonto the conveyor for subsequently engaging the support transfer racksfor installing and longitudinally inserting the basket into the colonysystem. FIG. 21 illustrates the beginning of the process fortransferring the basket stacks into the colony system. The transfersupport racks can be rotated to engage the colony baskets to begin theprocess of transferring the baskets into the colony system. A reversalof the previous process can be performed by installing two colonybaskets per level, beginning with level 1 and moving upward to level 2,3 and 4. FIG. 22 is an illustration of this process.

Referring to FIGS. 23-24, illustrations of transferring colony basketsto a kill line are shown. FIG. 23 is an illustration of transferring thecolony baskets from the transport to the rack assembly 300 and thentransferring the colony baskets onto the colony basket entry conveyor2302 to convey the colony baskets to the rendering station 2304. Oncethe birds have been unloaded from each colony basket, the empty colonybasket can then be transferred to the colony basket exit conveyor 2306.The colony baskets can then proceed through and along the colony basketwash conveyor 2308 which carries the colony baskets through the colonybasket washer 2312. The colony baskets once they are washed can then bereconfigured in a colony basket stack 2310 where the process can bestarted again.

FIG. 24 is an illustration of a colony basket entry station 2402 whichis another embodiment for transferring the colony basket stacks from thetransport to the rendering station.

Referring to FIGS. 25-26, an illustration of colony baskets travelingthrough the kill line and the cleaning station is shown. FIG. 25 is afurther illustration of the rendering or kill line whereby workersremove the birds from the colony baskets and hang the birds on thehanging conveyor shackles 2502.

The process can begin at the hatchery where a grouping of birds (forexample DOC) are gathered and placed into a colony basket. A pluralityof baskets can be stacked on over top of another for transport. Anetting material can be shrouded over each colony basket to assist incontaining the birds. The grouping of birds and their respective colonybasket in which they are placed can remain in the same colony basketthroughout the process until they are removed as broilers at the killstation. This reduces the handling of the birds to avoid injury andhelps to prevent the spread of bacteria or disease between birdgroupings. The grouping of DOC can be transported to a growing house inthe same colony basket in which they were originally placed at thehatchery, where the poultry are grown for future processing. At thegrowing location there can be a series of growing colony racks forhousing the colony baskets with the original grouping of birds placedtherein at the hatchery. At the growing facility, the colony baskets canbe integrated with water and feed channels and watering and feedtroughs. The colony baskets can have a specific configuration tointegrate with the watering and feeding systems as outlined herein inorder to assist poultry going through the growth process and assist theoperators at the growing facility for attending to the birds. When thepoultry have completed the growth process, now in the broiler stage,they can be transported to a location for processing as a final foodproduct. A transport can arrive at the growing location to receive thepoultry that have completed the growth process. The transport system canbe a truck and trailer combination. The trailer can be a standardflatbed trailer on which colony baskets containing the fully grownpoultry can be loaded. The colony baskets containing the originalgrouping of birds, or some subset thereof, can be transferred from thecolony racks of the colony system to the flatbed of the transport. Anetting material can be shrouded over each basket before it is stackedin order to assist in retaining the bird. The colony baskets can bestacked one atop another. The transport can be loaded with the fullygrown birds and transported along a travel route to an unloading stationat a processing facility. The transfer system for transferring thecolony baskets from the colony racks to the flatbed can be automated asdescribed herein.

The unloading station can include an automated unloading system forautomatically unloading a colony basket stack from the trailer forstorage in an adjacent storage area of the processing facility. Traystacks can be conveyed to a storage location having a climate controlledstorage facility for housing the poultry in the stacked configurationprior to the rendering process. The storage area can be operated on afirst in first out system such that a given colony basket stack does notdwell in the storage area for an extended period of time. The storagearea can also have a system for controlling and tracking the weight ofthe tray stacks which could ultimately provide weight informationregarding the fully grown poultry.

Within the storage facility there can be an automated unstacking systemfor unstacking the colony basket stacks for conveyance through theprocessing facility. There can be a stunning system utilized including agaseous environment for stunning the poultry or it can include anelectric shock stunning system or a combination of the two. If a gaseousenvironment stunning system is utilized, the gaseous environment can bea multi-stage stunning system where the first stage(s) can be a combinedinduction phase and the second stage(s) can be the combined stunningphase. This system can generally be referred to as a controlledatmosphere stunning system or CAS. Once the colony baskets containingthe original grouping of birds/poultry have transitioned through thestunning system, the poultry can be unloaded from the trays at anunloading station. The unloading station can comprise an automatedunloading system which is operable to tilt the colony basketssufficiently to remove the stunned poultry from the colony baskets. Thisis the first point in the process that the birds are removed since theiroriginal placement into the colony basket at the hatchery as DOC. Onceremoved from the colony baskets, the stunned poultry can be conveyed toa shackling station where the poultry can be hung from a shackleconveyor for being conveyed to a plant evisceration facility.

As described the colony baskets can be stackable. Further the colonybasket can have an interwoven wire mesh elevated floor above the colonybasket bottom floor where the mesh openings are sufficiently large fordebris to pass therethrough and also providing a means for the bird tograsp hold in order to stabilize itself and the mesh floor can beflexible in order to avoid injury to the birds. The frame of the colonybaskets include various portions including perimeter top and bottom rimflanges and upright vented side walls. The upward facing surface portionof the upper perimeter top rim flange can be designed to becomplimentary with respect to the downward facing portion of the bottomperimeter rim flange. This complimentary configuration can be designedsuch that the trays interlock when they are stacked thereby resistinglongitudinal and latitudinal movement of the trays with respect to eachother.

The stackable tray can be constructed having a top rim flange and abottom rim flange, which defines the longitudinal and latitudinaldimensions of the tray. The top and bottom rim flanges can have L-shapedcross sections. The inner perimeter of the top rim flange can define anupper opening or upward facing opening through which birds can be easilyinserted. The bottom rim flange defines the perimeter of the lower ordownward facing opening closed off by the solid floor. The solid floorcan have elevators for elevating the mesh floor proximately above thesolid floor. The mesh flooring is designed with vented openings wherethe openings are sufficiently large to allow debris to pass therethrough. The flexible mesh floor design provides for a surface that canbe grasped by the talons of a bird without injury. Upright side wallscan be attached around the perimeter of the tray and attached to supportmembers. The inner perimeters of the top rim flange and the bottom rimflange, which define the upper and lower openings respectively, can havesubstantially the same geometry.

The top rim flange can include stabilization standoffs which can extendvertically. The top rim flange can have on an upper surface a verticalstandoff. The flange and the complementing recessed receptacle on theunderside of the colony basket when engaged, one with respect to theother in a stackable fashion, they can resist longitudinal andlatitudinal shifting of trays, one with respect to the other. Also, thestabilization standoffs can be placed along the latitudinal andlongitudinal sides of the top rim flange. The spacing between thelongitudinal, the latitudinal, and the corner upright support ribsdefine the vented openings of the tray. The spacing between the supportmembers and the height of the support members can be optimized dependingon the type of bird being contained within the stackable trays.

For stacked colony baskets the uppermost colony basket can have a topcover or a netting installed of the uppermost colony basket. The topcover can have a mesh screen for covering the opening of the uppermosttray. The perimeter of the mesh screen can be defined by the top coverflange. The top cover flange can have recessed receptacles forinterfacing with the raised standoffs of the uppermost tray.

The colony basket stacks can be transitioned to the transport and loadedon the flatbed by way of a transfer rack or loading dock or other meansfor loading the colony basket stacks. Vertically protruding standoffscan be provided on the flatbed for and dimensioned to be received by therecessed receptacles of the lower most colony basket in a stack. Thetransport can have a shroud covering for better controlling theenvironmental exposure of the poultry. The shroud covering can besupported by transport side rails. One or both of the side panels of theshroud covering can be a retractable curtain for exposing the flatbedfrom either side. The shroud covering can also have a rear transportcover opening and or a side transport cover opening through which colonybaskets can be loaded.

The stacked colony baskets can be loaded through the transport coveropening by sliding them along tray tracks which extend along theflatbed. The trailer can be a standard trailer; however, the trailer canhave side railings for supporting shroud covering. The top surface ofthe flatbed can have raised standoffs that conform to the recessedreceptacles on the underside of the tray to restrict lateral sliding ormovement of the bottom most tray.

The various poultry handling examples shown above illustrate a novelsystem and method for handling poultry. A user of the present inventionmay choose any of the above chicken handling embodiments, or anequivalent thereof, depending upon the desired application. In thisregard, it is recognized that various forms of the subject chickenhandling could be utilized without departing from the spirit and scopeof the present invention.

As is evident from the foregoing description, certain aspects of thepresent invention are not limited by the particular details of theexamples illustrated herein, and it is therefore contemplated that othermodifications and applications, or equivalents thereof, will occur tothose skilled in the art. It is accordingly intended that the claimsshall cover all such modifications and applications that do not departfrom the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Other aspects, objects and advantages of the present invention can beobtained from a study of the drawings, the disclosure and the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A poultry colony basket system comprising: a. acolony basket having a perimetrical top rim flange defining an upwardfacing opening having a first geometry and a perimetrical bottom rimflange defining a downward facing opening where said downward facingopening is closed by a solid floor and said downward facing opening hasa second geometry substantially identical to said first geometry of thetop rim flange; b. vertically upright longitudinal side walls andvertically upright latitudinal side walls perpendicularly extendedbetween said bottom and top rim flanges such that said bottom and toprim flanges are in substantially parallel planes; c. a plurality ofstandoff members protruding vertically upward from said top rim flangeand a plurality of receptacles recessed in said bottom rim flangealigned and complimentary for receiving said plurality of standoffmembers; and d. a vertical slot extending from a gap in the top rimflange downward into the latitudinal side wall adapted for receiving andretaining a sustenance assembly.
 2. The poultry colony basket system asrecited in claim 1, further comprising: a. a flexible mesh floorextending between the longitudinal and latitudinal side walls; and b. aelevator strip extending substantially parallel to the flexible meshfloor and between the flexible mesh floor and the solid floor therebyelevating the mesh floor proximately above the solid floor.
 3. Thepoultry colony basket as recited in claim 2, further comprising: saidsolid floor removably attached for removing and discarding debris andhaving drain holes.
 4. The poultry colony basket system as recited inclaim 1, further comprising: a. a water channel extending through andretained in the vertical slot extending from a gap in the top rim flangedownward into the side wall and said water channel having a downwardpointing exit nozzle; b. a water trough suspended from the channeldisposed beneath the nozzle for receiving water; c. a feed channelextending substantially parallel with respect to the water channel; andd. a feed trough suspended from the feed channel for receiving feedtherein.
 5. The poultry colony basket as recited in claim 4, furthercomprising: said colony basket detachable from said water channel andsaid feed channel.
 6. The poultry colony basket as recited in claim 4,further comprising: said feed channel and said feed trough centrallylocated within the colony basket.
 7. The poultry colony basket asrecited in claim 1, further comprising a netting material draped oversaid upward facing opening.
 8. The poultry colony basket as recited inclaim 1, where the vertically upright longitudinal and verticallyupright latitudinal side walls are vented.
 9. A poultry colony basketsystem comprising: a. a plurality of colony baskets stacked verticallyfrom tops of said colony baskets underneath to bottoms of said colonybaskets above and engaging the top of each of said trays underneath withthe bottom of said trays immediately above, where each of said traysfurther comprises; b. a colony basket having a perimetrical top rimflange defining an upward facing opening having a first geometry and aperimetrical bottom rim flange defining a downward facing opening wheresaid downward facing opening is closed by a solid floor and saiddownward facing opening has a second geometry substantially identical tosaid first geometry of the top rim flange; c. vertically uprightlongitudinal side walls and vertically upright latitudinal side wallsperpendicularly extended between said bottom and top rim flanges suchthat said bottom and top rim flanges are in substantially parallelplanes; d. a plurality of standoff members protruding vertically upwardfrom said top rim flange and a plurality of receptacles recessed in saidbottom rim flange aligned and complimentary for receiving said pluralityof standoff members; e. a vertical slot extending from a gap in the toprim flange downward into the latitudinal side wall adapted for receivingan retaining a watering assembly; and f. said plurality of colonybaskets stacked where said recessed receptacles engages said standoffimmediately below.
 10. The poultry colony basket system as recited inclaim 9, where the upward facing opening and the downward facing openingare rectangular and the vertical height of the side walls are sufficientto accommodate the height of a market age mature boiler when said colonybaskets are stacked.
 11. The poultry colony basket system as recited inclaim 9, where each of the plurality of colony baskets further comprise:a. a flexible mesh floor extending between the longitudinal andlatitudinal side walls; and b. a elevator strip extending substantiallyparallel to the flexible mesh floor and between the flexible mesh floorand the solid floor thereby elevating the mesh floor proximately abovethe solid floor.
 12. The poultry colony basket system as recited inclaim 9, where each of said plurality of colony baskets has a solidfloor removably attached for removing and discarding debris and havingdrain holes.
 13. The poultry colony basket system as recited in claim 9,where each of said plurality of colony baskets further comprising anetting material draped over said upward facing opening.
 14. The poultrycolony basket system as recited in claim 9, where each of the pluralitycolony baskets whereby the vertically upright longitudinal andvertically upright latitudinal side walls are vented.
 15. A method forprocessing poultry using a colony basket comprising the steps of: a.gathering at a hatchery together a grouping of birds into a colonybasket when they are DOC; b. transporting said substantially samegrouping of birds in said same colony basket to a growing house having acolony system including a plurality of colony racks and inserting saidsame colony basket containing said same grouping of birds in one of saidplurality of colony racks; c. integrating a feeding channel and troughand a watering channel and trough with said same colony basket havingsaid substantially same grouping of birds; d. transferring saidsubstantially same grouping of birds in said same colony basket to atrailer of a transport and transporting said same colony basketcontaining said same grouping of birds to a processing facility; e.transferring said substantially same grouping of birds in said samecolony basket to a kill line; f. cleaning emptied colony basket; g.transporting the emptied colony basket to the hatchery.
 16. The methodfor processing poultry using a colony basket system as recited in claim15, where the colony basket comprises: a. a colony basket having aperimetrical top rim flange defining an upward facing opening having afirst geometry and a perimetrical bottom rim flange defining a downwardfacing opening where said downward facing opening is closed by a solidfloor and said downward facing opening has a second geometrysubstantially identical to said first geometry of the top rim flange; b.vertically upright longitudinal side walls and vertically uprightlatitudinal side walls perpendicularly extended between said bottom andtop rim flanges such that said bottom and top rim flanges are insubstantially parallel planes; c. a plurality of standoff membersprotruding vertically upward from said top rim flange and a plurality ofreceptacles recessed in said bottom rim flange aligned and complimentaryfor receiving said plurality of standoff members; and d. a vertical slotextending from a gap in the top rim flange downward into the latitudinalside wall adapted for receiving and retaining a watering assembly. 17.The method of processing poultry using a colony basket system as recitedin claim 15, further comprising the steps of: a. stacking into a colonybasket stack said same colony basket with a plurality of other basketsvertically from tops of said colony baskets underneath to bottoms ofsaid colony baskets above and engaging the top of each of said colonybaskets underneath with the bottom of said colony baskets immediatelyabove.
 18. The method of processing poultry using a colony basket systemas recited in claim 17, further comprising: a. transferring the colonybasket stack, where each colony basket has a separate grouping of birds,to a colony system; and b. transferring the colony basket stack from thecolony system to a processing facility.
 19. The method as recited inclaim 17, further comprising the step of: transferring the colony basketstack to a flatbed of a transport and aligning the recessed receptacleof a said colony basket over a flatbed raised stand off.
 20. The methodas recited in claim 17, further comprising the steps of: Transferringthe colony basket from the flatbed of a transport to a poultryprocessing facility.